JE Terry Elementary School in Plantersville will remain open

From the West Alabama Newsroom–

A Plantersville elementary school will remain open — after a special-called meeting of the Dallas County School Board — Tuesday night.

Superintendent Anthony Sampson recommended the closure of JE Terry Elementary School. However, the school board did not act on the recommendation.

People who live in the community where JE Terry Elementary School is located — are breathing a sigh of relief — after the school dodges another bullet Monday night.

“They been talking about closing it down man now the last five or six years. That’s one of the schools that pop up that they going shut down,” said Charles Goodwin.

“I just love JE Terry. My kids went there. My mom work there. And it’s just a lovely school. Fighting, different stuff going on, we don’t have that up here,” said Allen Goodwin.

The men say JE Terry is a big part of the community — and they want it to stay that way.

Superintendent Anthony Sampson says the recommendation to close the school — came after a careful assessment and analysis of the data.

“We have a school, JE Terry and there’s 72 students. Wonderful people. Every community matters. But when we look at things from a fiscal perspective and we know that our funding is predicated upon student enrollment, if I take into account that we have low and declining student enrollment it’s my responsibility to share that information with the board and make the appropriate recommendation for the board to consider,” said Sampson.

“The board took my recommendation into consideration and they gave me an answer. And we’re now prepared to move forward to continue educating students in Dallas County Schools.”

The Dallas County School District has 12 schools — and serves over 2200 students.